UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Media mogul Ted Turner wants to turn the Demilitarized Zone that divides the two Koreas into a peace park and a U.N.-protected World Heritage Site to honor the thousands of young men who died during the Korean War.

Turner first raised the idea of a peace park during a visit to the two Koreas this summer, and urged both sides to sign a peace treaty as a first step. North and South Korea technically remain at war since their 1950-53 conflict ended in a cease-fire instead of a peace treaty.

But the CNN founder went further at a dinner Thursday night, saying the DMZ, which is 2{ miles wide and 155 miles long, should also be declared a World Heritage Site, which would ensure that dozens of species unique to the area are preserved along with its history. The DMZ is about one-quarter the size of Yellowstone Park and goes from seashore to seashore, through river valleys and across mountains.

"The DMZ needs to be designated as a World Heritage Site and as a World Peace Park site because we've got to preserve it from development," Turner said. "Over the last 50 years, nobody's been in there and the birds and animals and trees and bushes and flowers" have flourished, he added.

AFP

Turner

Turner was speaking at a dinner honoring a new initiative to promote "sustainable tourism" at World Heritage Sites — landmarks designated by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO. The initiative is being undertaken by Expedia Inc. and the United Nations Foundation, which Turner chairs.

The Foundation was created in 1998 to distribute the $1 billion Turner pledged to support U.N. causes.

Turner said the DMZ should be a monument to both North and South Korea and China and the United States, countries that lost thousands of young men fighting in the area.

He said he started working on the DMZ campaign because he was asked by the president of the International Crane Foundation. Every winter, about 4,000 cranes from two different species winter in the DMZ.

Mounir Bouchenaki, UNESCO's assistant director-general for culture, called Turner's proposal "very interesting" and said it should be explored. He said it would preserve the DMZ as a place of peace.

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